These questions, what's the difference between a Zeon and a Core i5 or Core i7
processor? Is a Zeon good for gaming?
They have been asked and answered a thousand times. But the reason people
keep asking is that there's a lot of misinformation in the answers that are
floating around out there. So, let's address it here once and for all.
With the purchase of a qualifying Intel processor, SSD, or Knuck, you could
instantly win an Intel gaming jersey and be entered in the draw for the ultimate
system. Click now to learn more. Myth number one: Zeons and consumer CPUs
don't work with the same motherboards. They're not intercompatible. This used
to be true when Zeons were actually made for completely different sockets, but
it's no longer the case. Nowadays, it's up to the motherboard manufacturer to
implement support. And in many cases, it's possible to install a Core i7 on a
workstation board or server board or a Xeon processor in a consumer board. But
certain CPU features like overclocking on a workstation board or ECC memory
support on a consumer grade board may not be validated. Myth number two, Xeons
are inherently better for 3D rendering and consumer CPUs like Core i7s are
inherently better for gaming. While in some cases this will be valid, for
example, this $2,500 12 core behemoth of
a Zeon will not handle gaming as well as
this $350 quad core Core i7 because
gaming favors fewer faster cores compared to many slower ones. However,
in cases where a Core i7 and a Zeon can be found based on the same micro
architecture with the same basic specifications, they should in theory
perform exactly the same. But theories are just theories, right? So, I handed a
Zeon E3 1276V3 and a Core i7 4790 nonK
over to Luke to find out if their performance, other than support for ECC
memory on the Xeon and a couple of consumercentric features on the Core i7
is any different. And
they're pretty much the same. You'll see that the Xeon wins by kind of very small
amounts on average. That's probably due to a bidding process more than anything.
There's a bit of overlap on the binning for i7s and zeons, but this could be a
fairly high bin Zeon and a fairly average i7.
That's that's kind of about it. Fairly anticlimactic. Anyways, back to you,
Linus. Okay, so then why do zeons exist at all? Well, for starters, they have
ECC memory support, which reduces the chances of a memory error occurring that
can harm data integrity or system stability for missionritical systems
that cannot crash. And along those lines, like other workstation and server
grade components, they are indicated for 247 operation. But that's not all. Even
though we can find Xeons with the same specs as Core series CPUs sometimes, the
Xeon lineup also contains many additional products with specialized
features that are not available to consumers, usually because they simply
don't need them. So why bother spending money on them? For starters, along with
that ECC memory support, some Zeons support massive amounts of memory per
CPU and larger onchip data caches, which
will dramatically affect performance in certain workloads, especially very
repetitive ones. There are also many Xeons available, not only with
additional processing cores for running lots of virtual machines on a single box
or for big performance boosts and workstation or server workloads, but as
you move up the product stack, you'll find ones that can have two, four, or
even more CPUs in a single machine for
when a single multi-core CPU still isn't enough. And then finally, Xeons being
targeted at specialized customers like data centers who are less concerned with
the cost of a CPU and more concerned
with the higher cost of the rack space and electricity being used to support it
over a long period of time. They are available in configurations that are
designed to deliver optimal performance per watt and per unit volume compared to
consumer chips where the assumption is most of the time they'll be the only CPU
in the room anyway. So in conclusion,
Xeons are different from Core series processors, but only if they are
different for your workload. It's not
about which one is the best. It's about the right tool for the job. So picking
the wrong one won't make your PC explode. So that's good to know. But
there's no need to pay a premium or give up consumer-friendly features like
overclocking to buy a Zeon if you're just going to edit videos on your PC
from time to time. However, in cases where you need something not available
to consumers, it's also important to realize that consumer grade chips are
just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what's available out there. Speaking of
what's available out there, do I ever have something awesome for you guys?
Oops, it's backwards. from our friends at Chiro Power. They just released their
new flagship portable battery bank at
noon today, the Energy Plus, which features a very high capacity of 12,000
milliamp hours while still maintaining a thin and actually surprisingly light
form factor. I mean, look at this thing. 12,000
milliamp hours. That's insane. It comes with an AC adapter for quick recharging
and is suitable for any device that charges through USB, like your
smartphone or tablet. Here at Linus Media Group, we use Chiro battery banks
whenever we go on trips, and they certainly saved Luke and Nick's butts
when both of their phones died on the E3 show floor. This is a product that
anyone with a high power consumption smartphone should have. And for the
first 3,000 units sold, Chiro is
offering the ridiculously low price of $2949.
Insane. After those 3,000 units are gone, it'll be available at $39.99,
which isn't half bad either. But, um,
whatever. You might as well save a couple bucks, right? Anyway, international shipping is now available.
That's the biggest complaint we've ever had about these Chiro deals that we've
offered you guys before. Well, I really want to buy it, but there's no international shipping. Don't No, it's
available now. So, just click through the uh link below in the description on
Amazon. And I was confused, but don't worry too much about it. It also comes
with a cool little brown carrying bag,
AC adapter. Thank you for watching, guys. Like this video if you liked it,
dislike it if you disliked it. Leave a comment letting me know what you thought. Don't forget to check out the
support us link in the video description. You can buy a t-shirt, give us a monthly contribution, or change
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kickback whenever you buy portable battery banks or whatever else it is
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don't forget to subscribe.